M2M News Weekly – October 29, 2010

A new smartphone app aims to bring a little peace of mind to parents this Halloween. This yearly ritual can also be a source of anxiety for parents as they let older kids traverse the dusky neighborhoods on their own.

M2M is helping a father-son team manage their real estate operation. Sensors monitor their 11 properties and notify the duo of things like room temperature and toilet flow. In addition, oil tank sensors provide evidence when a delivery is 200 gallons short.

M2M represents both a new set of uses for mobile technology and a new source of revenue for mobile operators, and Sprint is aggressively investing in this area with about 200 employees now dedicated to bringing M2M applications into the world.

The market for motion sensors has now grown to include a much broader set of applications including sporting equipment, home appliances, industrial solutions, security monitoring systems, medical rehabilitation and clinical devices.

Verizon’s Wireless subscriber additions fell by 20 percent in the third quarter, its lowest in a decade, giving it a total of 101.1 million connections. However, the carrier did manage to maintain its top spot ahead of AT&T.

Construction has begun on a $180 million dollar smart grid project in Washington State. The grid is part of the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration project, which will manage efforts in Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Oregon to modernize power grids.